In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

09/04/08: From Zero-Sum to Win-Win —Mara Rudman, adviser, Middle East Progress; senior fellow, Center for American Progress. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
09/04/08: How Progress Is Possible —
08/07/08: How to Deal with Jerusalem —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Two-State Solution Still Best Option

“In practical terms, we can reach two conclusions: First, a final-status agreement, although its details are known, cannot be secured in the foreseeable future. Second, the time has come to think about other solutions. One of them is a return not to the 1967 borders, but rather, to the reality that prevailed in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank.”
—Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland, “The Jordanian Option,” YNet, September 3, 2008

"On both sides of the green line and, indeed, wherever people think about solutions to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, a lot of old/new thinking is taking place. … Most of these ideas are patently unrealistic. Discussion of them often reflects despair, not pragmatic strategic thinking. … Precisely because there is no such alternative, other options more readily suggest themselves, ranging from temporary conflict management to three states or entities. Nor does failure today mean that tomorrow we cannot try again to arrive at a two-state solution, which remains the best option for all."
—Yossi Alpher, coeditor of the bitterlemons family of internet publications & former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, "One State Definitely Not an Option," bitterlemons.org, August 18, 2008

Middle East Analysis

How Progress Is Possible —Hiba Husseini, chair, Legal Committee to Final Status Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis; former vice chairperson of the Palestine Securities Exchange (1998-May 2005). Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
Perils of an Israeli Transition —The New York Times, Editorial
The Arabs Will Look Differently Upon America —Ron Pundak, director general of the Peres Center for Peace and former architects and negotiators of the Oslo Agreement (bitterlemons.org)

A Saudi in the Vatican

Shamael Al-Sharikh (Kuwait Times)

November 9, 2007

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

On Tuesday, November 6, in a historical move never ever made by a reigning Saudi king, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah paid a visit to the Custodian of the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI. This is a momentous occasion for anyone who knows the views the Saudis hold of non-Muslims. …

The 9/11 mass murders shed light on how influential and damaging radical thought was on the Saudi public. There is no denying the fact that Bin Laden is a violent extremist, but there are many Saudis who supported the issues he stood for, even though they are peaceful, God-fearing citizens. This is the result of an education system completely controlled by conservative clerics who want to prevent Saudi Arabia from modernizing. …

The visit by King Abdullah to meet with the Pope is a brilliant move in the direction of reform. The fact that he went to meet with the Pope also means that the Saudi Government respects Christianity and its leaders. It means that, whatever conservative clerics say in criticism of Christianity or other faiths, the Saudi Government no longer cares about their continuous approval of its foreign policy. Saudi Arabia is finally shedding its skin as a conservative stronghold and is moving towards modernization of its civil liberties, for Saudi Muslims and for its non-Muslim expatriates, who are estimated to be 1.5 million and still not permitted to practice Christianity in public. Access the full article>>